The NFL RedZone channel is by far the best way for fans to see action from across the league all at once. The first NFL Sunday of the year is just a few days away on Sept. 8, and that means that Scott Hanson and the Octobox will be returning to screens around the country for seven hours of commercial-free football. NFL RedZone is usually housed within add-on channel packs and not available in the base plans of cable and pay-TV companies, but this week the league has announced that it will offer the channel free for the first Sunday of the year to customers of top distributors, including DIRECTV, Fubo, Hulu + Live TV, Sling TV, and others.

Key Details:

• NFL RedZone broadcasts from 1 p.m. through 8 p.m. ET on Sunday afternoons.
• Viewers need only check the channel listings of their service to find the free preview.
• Many of these services offer free trials of their own, allowing new customers to get the RedZone preview at no cost.

The NFL RedZone channel is essentially an afternoon-long whip-around show. The feed is controlled by the channel’s producers, who constantly have an eye on every game airing across the country on CBS and Fox so that they can show viewers all of the biggest plays and every touchdown happening in real time.

What's the Cheapest Way to Watch NFL RedZone in 2024?

The channel is available from 1 p.m. through 8 p.m. ET on Sundays, starting an hour before the first games kick off. Viewers are able to see up to eight games at a time through the Octobox, and host Scott Hanson breaks down all the action. Check your provider’s listings to see which channel is hosting NFL RedZone in your area.

In addition to the live TV streaming services getting access to the RedZone trial (more on those below), linear cable distributors like Cox, Dish, Optimum, and Verizon Fios will be giving customers access to a free trial of the channel for the 2024 NFL kickoff weekend.

Which Services Getting NFL RedZone Free Preview Offer Free Trials?

If you’d like to check out NFL RedZone this weekend without having to pay for a live TV streaming subscription, you have several options available to you from the list of partners that are offering a free preview of the channel. The first and best is a subscription to DIRECTV STREAM, which offers new customers a five-day free trial. That means you can sign up for the service starting Thursday and watch RedZone on Sunday afternoon without being charged until Monday.

Hulu + Live TV comes with a three-day free trial, so as long as you sign up on Friday or later, you can watch the free preview of NFL RedZone without paying the subscription price for the service this weekend.

Sling TV does not come with a free trial, but it is offering new customers a 50% discount off their first month of service for a limited time. With that discount, viewers could start watching RedZone, ESPN, and other top cable channels for just $20 for one month.

Fubo and YouTube TV offer NFL RedZone through various channel add-on packs, but they are not participating in the free preview of the channel this weekend.